I first read about Holiday Shores a few weeks and stupidly overlooked them. Now, I’ve gone back in time, corrected my mistake and am Continue Reading

Loosely speaking, French Miami is a rock band. Using rock music as a starting point, French Miami use its structures as the glue holding together more abstract musical ideas: dizzying, jagged guitar riffs anchored around pulsing synths, harmonized finger-tapping accenting tightly wound grooves, precise stop-start timing. And although part of a lineage of a number of great bands from the Touch and Go/Southern golden era, Jason Heiselmann’s melodic, memorable vocals weave the bands more technical ideas into a unique realm which may too gritty for pop, yet too hooky not to be.

Since forming in 2006, French Miami has ascended up the San Francisco totem pole earning themselves a reputation for as a local favorite with their raucous live performances. As a trio, French Miami is busy on stage swapping roles. The lack of a bassist not very noticeable by just listening as their smart guitar interplay and synth work give the band plenty of low end. Singer Jason Heiselmann seamlessly eases between baritone guitar, drums, keyboards, and tackling vocals, while multi-instumentalist Roland Curtis plays double duty as well on guitar and synths. Drummer Chris Crawford stays locked on the drums, his signature BOOM! creating the backbone of their sound. For French Miami, it’s not making up for not having enough hands for a bass, it’s about pushing the limits of what a three-piece group can play and sound like; without set limits onstage, they’re a band that sound more expansive than any “power trio” ever could be.

MP3:: French Miami - Science Fiction

FRENCH MIAMI S/T OUT NOVEMBER 18th, 2008
Their stellar self-titled debut will be available in stores 11.18.2008 as a self-release and digitally through Dinner Party Recordings.

MYSPACE:: Click Here

Band out of Orange California, has a sound a little softer than Cold War Kids, but the music is just as biting.

MP3:: Local Natives - Airplanes

Download:: Bat For Lashes - What’s A Girl To Do?

Every now and then I come to terms with my inbox and how overloaded it actually is. I hate to think about some of the bands I could of heard a little sooner if I had just read the whole email. True, there is a lot of bad, and I mean bad, music that shows up in the inbox, but for every 10 bad ones there is a gem. Well, I am going to try, emphasis on try, to share some of the better songs I get emailed to me every week. We will start with a few I received this week:

PONYTAIL (Thanks to Brooke from Big Hassle Media)

Pony MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jreamteam
Ponytail - Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)

DARK CAPTAIN LIGHT CAPTAIN (Thanks again to Brooke)

Dark Captain Light Captain Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/darkcaptain
Dark Captain Light Captain - They Be Underwater

GEOFF KOCH (Thanks to Geoff Koch)
Geoff Koch Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/geoffreykochmusic
Geoff Koch - Oh, Tonight

DREW BLACKARD - out of Dallas, TX (Thanks to Drew Blackard)

Website: www.withoutaknife.com
Drew Blackard - Swallow My Pride

AIRLINE - out of Dallas, TX (Thanks to Reagan Judd)

Airline Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/airlinemusic
Airline - About To Bend